Curtains

Special Features (Blu-ray)

• Commentary with actresses Lesleh Donaldson and Lynne Griffin (moderated by Edwin Samuelson) is a conversational track featuring the fuzzy memories of the participants. Thankfully, Samuelson is there to keep the chat moving along, but Griffin and Donaldson are game to discuss anything, commenting on Canadian tax breaks, cast relationships, and the feature's fragmented production schedule. The listener learns quite a bit about Griffin's professional history and the pair's knowledge of the finished product, with some decent anecdotes shared along the way.
• Audio Track (55:26) featuring vintage interviews with producer Peter R. Simpson and actress Samantha Eggar. Simpson (recorded on the phone) is surprisingly animated about "Curtains," exploring the reshoots, the firing of an actress during production, and the casting of Shannon Tweed as a breast double during one exploratory scene between characters. Eggar (possibly interviewed at a convention) offers more of a career overview, with limited information pertaining to "Curtains."
• "The Ultimate Nightmare" (35:51, HD) is a glorious look at the making, or disintegration, of "Curtains." Interviews with cast (including Donaldson and Griffin) and crew (including Ciupka and composer Paul Zaza) are stunningly candid about the troubled production, exploring how they came to the project, which was originally imagined as a psychological thriller, with emphasis on Hitchcockian stylistics. That all changed once producer Simpson saw a rough cut, reuniting the cast two years after principal photography concluded to reshoot chunks of the movie, without Ciupka's participation. Everyone seems to have a healthy sense of humor about the disastrous situation, and opinions of the finished product are not kind. Wonderfully assembled and honest about the pitfalls of the industry, this featurette is a must-see.
• "Ciupka: A Filmmaker in Transition" (15:09, HD) is a vintage featurette celebrating the cinematographer as he makes his move from photography to direction, working his last few days on "Melanie" before taking command of "Curtains." Some valuable BTS footage is offered, but more interesting is the helmer's resignation with his new gig, unsure of its importance to his career.
• And a Theatrical Trailer (1:44, HD) is included.

Blu-ray Screenshots